Vodafone UK Launch New Power Hub Router and Wi-Fi 6 Booster UPDATE
Mobile operator and ISP Vodafone UK has today announced the launch of both a new ‘Power Hub‘ router for their home broadband packages and a complementary new ‘Super Wi-Fi 6 Booster‘ device to help improve home wireless connectivity. New customers, joining from today, on any standard plan will receive the Power Hub router.
At the time of writing, we don’t yet have any details on the technical specifications of each device, which makes it very difficult to say what sort of improvements they bring over the existing kit (customers on Vodafone’s premium Pro II plans already get WiFi 6E capable kit, such as via their ‘Ultra Hub‘ router).
The Power Hub router is instead merely described as being “built for Full Fibre, giving speeds of up to 910Mbps and is designed to work with the latest tech“. The WiFi 6 capable router can also connect “up to 100 smart devices and offers intelligent WiFi auto-optimisation,” although most such routers could lay claim to a similar statement. But that’s all the detail they give (we’ve asked for more).
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As for the new Super WiFi 6 Booster, this is designed to work with Vodafone’s new Power Hub and to deliver “reliable coverage around the whole home” using mesh technology for “wall to wall WiFi.” Customers will also receive dedicated ‘WiFi Xpert’ support, who will help to “monitor and fix any issues“. But in the “unlikely event they don’t get reliable WiFi coverage across every corner of the home, Vodafone’s Whole Home WiFi Guarantee lets them leave, for free.” Once again, that’s all they say.
The enhanced kit helps to underpin Vodafone’s “new” standard broadband packages, which start from £26 per month, plus an additional £7 if you want to add their Super WiFi 6 Booster. Not forgetting the Vodafone Together discount, which cuts the monthly price on home broadband (£4 a month on Pro II broadband and £2 on standard broadband) and gives 30% off additional mobile airtime plans of 12 months or more for those who bundle their broadband and mobile plans.
UPDATE 1st May 2024 @ 10:49am
Vodafone has provided us with a basic spec sheet for both devices.
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Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and Linkedin.
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Just my opinion as others may like it, but that picture; if that IS the new router it’s f’ugly 🙂
Looks fine to me – just like a small bedside radio? Hard to object to!
It is all bull, more sales talk to grab people who know nothing about this stuff and will believe what ever Vodafone and other providers say and these people will be willing to pay an extra £7 a month for something they may not need because Vodafone says it will solve their problems with Wi-fi.
Sadly, that seem to the norm for most providers these days.
If it’s offering wall to wall WiFi throughout the home why would you need a booster I’ve been with vodaphone years and their broad band is ok nothing great my friend has sky and it’s much better faster than my vodaphone
So this is a free product on they cheap plans?
yes
I’m just being “upgraded” (same service, digital Voice, new contract), I’ll be using my Draytek but VF insisting on changing the login password and sending me a new router.
Be intrigued to see if it’s this. It’ll be going on eBay.
You’d have to return the router after your contract ends though
I’ve never yet been asked to return a WiFi router… that’s about 10 routers do far. VF are upgrading me, they’ve not asked for the old one back.
It’s going on eBay too, I kept it just in case I had a fault, and they worried my own router
Upgraded to fibre 500 on the 11th April
Just enquired if I can have one of these. And got told nope.
let me guess….. non uk agent you got through to straight away that is unless they just passed you straight back to the sales department which i’m informed is the incorrect process (as they have a pre-live team which deals with any orders that have been processed to the point of completion), welcome to voda-doom! Sacking the UK staff and replacing them with overseas agents ‘to save on costs’. All well placing an order and speaking to a UK agent in sales but as soon as the submit button is pressed, good luck getting help there on in….. horrific service!
No difference if they route people via a gateway hundreds of miles away
Looking at the small print on the press release they’ve also altered the mobile + broadband together discount. Instead of £3, it’s now £2 on standard or £4 on pro II packages.
https://www.vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/press-release/vf-standard-broadband-with-new-power-hub-router-and-super-wifi-6-booster/
One other thing I dislike is that IIRC they used to have the “*” next to the price on the initial product page after you enter your address, now they just have a notice about price increases after 24 months immediately below with the warning about mid contract increases being much further down and only explicitly stated with an “*” on the checkout page.
It had made me think they had initially stopped doing mid contract increases.
Can you get this to replace the standard black router if it’s any better? I’m making do with that one at the moment while I wait for FTTP,then I was going to switch to the better model.
Didn’t think I would be waiting this long though…
Be careful, this router is a nightmare. It is very difficult to connect your old kit like repeaters and especially printers.
Unless your kit can accept the interface it don’t connect.
Although you get fast speed my old nowtv hub 2 on copper wires was much better, I wish I never changed.
The only way I can get my printer to work is by USB connection.
And of course I lost my scanning ability because it needs wireless for that.
Basically poor.
Also I have security cameras outside the house, another nightmare to connect
Another plain white box that looks like it should be hidden, I can understand why people put them in places where the Wi-Fi don’t work well. I am not worried myself, my router is stuck on a shelf in the living room, but some people care.
They should make a router that has a photo frame on the front, so people can stick a photo in it and make it look nicer.
Saying all of that, there is too much waste router wise, with providers changing them every few months and giving them to people who have perfectly good routers.
Maybe it is time for a standard router from all the providers, where if a customer change providers it can still be used. It would get rid of the bloatware that BT and EE stick in their routers.
3 ethernet ports so better than the Ultra hub I have on pro which just has 2, but would prefer 4 on both really. Especially when you need a double socket for the modem + router so don’t have one spare for a switch as well. Maybe we’ll get them back once the rj11 is dropped when we go full fibre, one phone socket is probably fine too just for a dect basestation.
You can’t even separate the 2.4 and 5 ghz channels. It says it is automatic but you try connecting a piece of kit it’s a nightmare
The old intelligent hub had this ability and was better.
Most people don’t need wifi 6 either which is on this hub but causes problems with wps connections
I signed up to Vodafone on the 12th April for an activation date of 12th May, be interesting to see which one I get. But expect to get the THG3000.
Which router did you get in the end?
does this spec equate to AX4800 – for comparison with other routers? 4*1200 im calcuating from the spec sheet
I was supplied this new device as the old one was allegedly failing, so had no choice .
Speaking as a designer of electronic products this device is woeful.
You cannot, repeat for clarity, cannot configure the unit for split 2.4 and 5 ghz.
Despite being told this is helpful, and part of the design it renders it impossible, I do mean impossible to connect typical household controllers.
I can only conclude that this is to prevent third party devices being connected, to me this is contrary to the open nature of wifi connectivity.